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We now continue with our series of interviews with noted author Christopher Penczak!

Bernadette:

Many of the celebrations of the Wheel of the Year were originally created and celebrated by a culture that were no longer a hunter-gatherer society but were an agricultural society.
Many of us today are not following an agricultural lifestyle, though we receive the benefits of such.

Does this cultural change of today’s times warrant today’s pagans to reassess our magical celebrations?

Christopher:

While we’re not involved in an agricultural lifestyle, one could argue in terms of food, we still an agricultural society. Even when you don’t live on a farm, the markers of the season are important touchstones to the cycle of life in the course of a single year. The outer signs, such as the first flowers, the changing of the leaves or the rise and fall in sunlight indicate tides of life force that flow in our world, and its important as magickal people to be in touch with those tides. They influence our health, mood and magick. I think they are particularly important for those of us who are not living on a farm, to keep in touch with the lifetides that feed and support us.

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Given that St. Patrick’s Day is technically a Catholic holiday, one strongly associated with the casting out of the pagan culture of Ireland; it might seem a little anti-magick. And perhaps for the past four centuries that St. Patrick’s Day was celebrated there has been a certain stigma to it among pagan and wiccan sub- cultures. But over the past few decades a marvelous transition has occurred and St. Patrick’s Day is no longer just a celebration of the late 4th century missionary it was created to honor, it is a celebration of Irish culture. And my-oh-my, Irish culture has A LOT to celebrate.

In a certain sense, one can say that Celtic culture is one of the oldest continuing in the world today, often with many of its symbols and superstitions still intact. Established by the late fourth millenium BCE in Ireland, Celtic culture actually originated in the mountains between Europe and Asia, spreading out westward across the land. For once upon a time, “Celtic” culture was not just limited to the British Isles, but swept across much of Northern Europe in various forms like the Hallstatt (8th-6th c BCE) and La Tene (450 BCE-1st c. BCE) cultures. The Celts, tied together by linguistic similarities and an ancestral homeland in the Indo-European mountain steppes, dominated western Europe for a little over a millennia before cultural interaction with Mediterranean cultures, particularly the Romans, transformed their way of life significantly. As one of the farthest western bastions of Celtic culture, one left reasonably undisturbed by the Romans until the early Christian period of St. Patrick, Ireland represents a metaphorical bank vault of less disturbed facets of ancient Celtic culture, and especially its magick and lore. Even once Ireland had adopted Christianity, it tucked away much of its myth ~ hiding it among Christian stories or saints and relegating it to its own realm of well-believed superstition.
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In honor of Valentine’s Day this year, it seemed appropriate to dwell on the philosophy of love magick in bygone days…

Love, as a human constant, has been one of the most powerful motivations behind the use of magick throughout the ages. Love spells appear in the oldest of texts right down to the modern world where they are still practiced today, albeit with a strict set of ethical guidelines regarding intent.

But in the world of the classical Mediterranean, magick was much more commonplace and freely used than it is today. It was a part of everyday existence. Philosophy, medicine, and religion were all intertwined: the intelligent and physical blended seamlessly with the spiritual. The act of falling in love or lust (or preferably both!) which the modern world can scientifically chalk up to chemical reactions in the body, was seen, instead (and perhaps rightly so) as a form of magick in and of itself. And as such, things like passion could be encouraged or inhibited by the use of other magicks. In the Hellenistic world ~ one influenced strongly by the culture of classical fifth century BCE Greece which was spread by the armies of Alexander the Great ~ magickal spells to incite love and lust or prevent them were commonplace. Love charms were sold in the marketplace and doled out by the temples of a multitude of gods. Herbs which evoked lust and faithfulness were sold on street corners, hawked by grandmothers and young girls learned in the arts of the apothecary. Rites to inspire passion were passed down from generation to generation, recorded in snippets of literature for posterity to analyze much later. Love and Love magick were all around.
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Lets take a look at today’s card-The World:

We see a woman who is surrounded by a wreath made of Laurel which is a symbol of protection, peace and purification. Her legs are crossed which represents overcoming obstacles (the crossroads). The figures in the four corners of The World card represent the four fixed signs of the zodiac, Leo, Taurus, Scorpio and Aquarius. This is symbolic of all the stars coming into alignment for me. Today, my focus should be on world issues or world events, encounters, and gatherings; travel, change, or physical concerns; organizations, risks, and new opportunities; but also any restrictions, walls, or blocks that I may have.
Eventually I’ll surmount any limitations or obstacles that I may have and come out on top. It’s time to realize what my goals really are and to start to count my blessings.  My obsession (or preoccupation) with the past is hindering my ability to see what is really going on, but no matter how bound you’re feeling now, you can still break free. Things can change for me. Lessons of the past should help me- NOT hinder me, if I have learned my lesson well!

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Who are those Watchers, anyway? We’ve all asked that question at one point, at least those of us who regularly cast sacred circles or work with correspondence lists and the effects of the elements or the cardinal directions generally associated with many Pagan traditions, Wicca among them. Just what exactly are the Watchers who watch us from within those Watchtowers?

Let me first explain that I am not referring to the thoughtforms we call “watchers” (although in a sense all astral entities can be defined as either being, or originating in part, from thoughtforms). I am speaking of those entities we call upon for protection and assistance during rituals of worship and magickal workings. And since my M.O. lately seems to be to revisit a basic concept learned in my First or Second Degree Training at Sacred Mists, and then rip it apart to its quantum level so I can understand what it is and why we use it, it is not surprising that I decided to do the same with Watchers.

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Let’s take a look at today’s tarot card-The Tower. I am using the Rider-Waite/Smith deck today. There is a tower that is being struck by lightning from above. Flames are shooting out from the top of the tower as well as coming out from it’s windows. There are two people falling down from the tower with a look of fright on their faces. At the very top of this card, there is a crown that looks as if the lightning bolt knocked it off the tower and is in the process of falling down.

How does this card apply to me today? What can I learn from it’s messages?

I look at the bolt of lightning, and I think “ego”. Sometimes ones ego needs to be knocked down a notch or two. Lets look at the fire that is so prevalent in this card. Fire is about transformation and cleansing. When a forest burns down, the growth is cleared away for new growth! What needs to cleared out of your life? What changes do you need to make now, not later?

Maybe your in a relationship that really needs to end now. Is it really fulfilling to you?  Do you find that you or your partner tend to be volatile?  Do you tend to argue all the time?

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